RiverWorks Discovery Assistant

The Dubuque County Historical Society operates the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, National Rivers Hall of Fame, the Mathias Ham House Historical Site, and the Dubuque Guide Service. The Museum & Aquarium serves over 200,000 people a year, including several thousand more each year at its historic sites and tours, telling the story of the Mississippi River and the History of the Dubuque and Tri-state area.

Greater than 90 full and part time employees and over 500 volunteers.

RiverWorks Discovery Assistant

Reports to: RiverWorks Discovery Director

Part-Time Position

RiverWorks Discovery Program Description

RiverWorks Discovery (RWD) is a nationally recognized education outreach effort of the National Rivers Hall of Fame and the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium (NMRM&A) in Dubuque, Iowa. RWD teaches people about the commerce, culture and conservation of America’s rivers and their watersheds. The program was created in 2004 by AEP River Operations, and due to its exponential growth and success the program was gifted to the NMRM&A in 2010. Today, RWD has more than 150 co-sponsors and almost 40 non-profit partners nationwide who make it possible for RWD to provide free educational materials and presentations to the public. RWD has educated over 1,000,000 children and families since its inception through involvement with various festivals, conferences, seminars, school presentations, and hands-on workshops. RWD is a coordinated effort that brings together the river industry, community leaders, museums, nature centers, educators and the public to recognize the important role our rivers have played throughout history and will continue to play in our nation’s future.

Position Summary

The RWD Assistant will act as liaison between the RWD Director and the NMRM&A’s education, development, exhibits and marketing departments assisting with administrative tasks, donor relations, marketing, program scheduling, and public relations for both RWD and NMRM&A.

Principle Accountabilities

Specific duties will include but are not limited to, delivering RWD programming and presentations, creating new curriculum, planning workshops, and coordinating field trips. The RWD Assistant will coordinate with NMRM&A team members in performing administrative tasks and duties, producing and/or updating: newsletters, classroom resources and library resources, development of interactive exhibit displays, and preparing donor related materials to be used for solicitation.

Coordinate production and mailing of appeal letters.

Assist with grant applications and fundraising requests.

Answer public inquiries and necessary follow-up, distribute informational materials to students, teachers, and general public

Process donations and prepare acknowledgement letters and other correspondence.

Maintain foundation, corporation, and individual donor files in coordination with Development Manager.

Handle administrative details associated with program scheduling for schools and community events including schedule dates and times for programs, gather and/or prepare materials, promote events to intended audience, invite guests and speakers, make appropriate recommendations for improvement, etc.).

Update Website Calendar

Generate and share content on RiverWorks Social media pages including Facebook and Instagram

Manage and increase the exposure of RWD nationally with media releases and follow up, working with RWD Director and marketing Director.